Ceratotherium simum simum
It’s hard to imagine a more prehistoric looking large mammal alive in the world today than the white rhinoceros. Being one of our favourite species, we cherish every sighting we have of them while exploring the wild places of South Africa.
It is thought that the white rhino got its name from its wide mouth – a miss-translation of the Dutch word “wijd” which means wide. Scientifically, the name “Square-lipped Rhinoceros’ is probably more correct, but not widely used. The white rhino uses its broad mouth to good effect, grazing as it does almost exclusively on short grasses, in contrast to its smaller African cousin, the black rhinoceros, which is a browsing species. After the elephants, the white rhinoceros is the biggest living land animal. They can stand over 1.8m (6 feet) high at the shoulder and bulls weigh up to 2,400 kg. Cows are lighter at up to 1,800 kg, while calves weigh between 40 and 60 kg at birth.
White rhinos prefer open, lightly wooded habitats with a good covering of short, sweet grasses and easy access to drinking water (they drink about 72 liters of water a day). They are by far the most social of the rhinoceroses, at times congregating in groups of up to 18, though normally much fewer. Adult bulls are territorial, and groups of cows and their calves range over the territories of several bulls.
Cows give birth to a single calf every 3 to 5 years. The calves are vulnerable to attack from lions and spotted hyenas, but healthy adults have little to fear from any natural predators. Most adults succumb to a natural death from injuries sustained in fights, freak accidents like getting stuck in mud, drowning or getting caught in bush fires, and during prolonged droughts. Sickeningly, poaching for their horns has recently become probably the biggest single cause of death for adult white rhinos, which would normally have a life expectancy of up to 45 years in the wild.
Today, the Southern White Rhinoceros is considered “near threatened“. At the start of the 1900’s, only between 20 and 50 animals remained, all of them in the Umfolozi Game Reserve (today part of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park). One of South Africa’s greatest conservation success stories is how the Natal Parks Board (today Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife) and dedicated conservationists like Dr. Ian Player pulled these majestic animals from the jaws of extinction: by 2010 their wild population stood at an estimated 20,170 of which 18,800 were being protected in South Africa. Now, ever escalating pressure from poaching is threatening to undo their fantastic work. Sadly, the fortunes of the Northern White Rhinoceros, which historically occurred in the Sudan, the DRC and Uganda, is even more dire, with only four individuals remaining in the wild, having been relocated from a zoo in the Czech Republic to a conservancy in Kenya.
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Have you heard of Wildaid? I recently learned about this organization… They are committed to promoting public awareness of poaching impacts, and campaigning messages toward the markets that buy poached animals to cease buying.
This link provides very sobering and stark statistics Re: rhino census world-wide. http://wildaid.org/rhinos
– Jane
We think Wildaid’s going about this fight in the right way, Jane. The market for wildlife products has to be eradicated.
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Beautiful photos; wonderful information. Poaching is such a despicable activity, and so sad! Thanks for sharing another wonderful blog. 🙂
Thanks for your kind support Carolyn.
It is absolutely awful that these animals are savagely killed to satisfy nothing but vanity and superstition.
Great photos and information. I was under the impression that there were far fewer the 20,000 rhinos left. the one we saw would not eveen be a challenge for a high powered rifle. They must be preserved, in numbeers, for genrations to come
Thanks for the visit and kind words Woolly, we appreciate your support! It is not too late to prevent these animals disappearing altogether, but there are literally millions of people out there who need to change their mindsets for that to occur.
These are amazing photos as usual. I did not know about the White Rhino.
Thanks very much kind Kathryn! We’re glad we could introduce you to the white rhino!
You surely did!
Thank you for the info! And, Thank you so much for the great effort they and you put to save them!
Thanks Amy! Some of our colleagues are putting their lives on the line to save these beautiful creatures, so creating a bit of awareness is the least we can try and do.
I had no idea they were so tall! Wonderful, and again, thank you.
Thanks for visiting with us again Anna!
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